Role of Education

The role of Assessment in Education System Education is the most important aspect in people’s lives. In today’s society, education is essential in order to be successful economically and socially. ‘Durkheim believes that education enables children to internalize the social rules that contribute to the functioning of the society’ (Giddens, A., 2006, p.686). He also claimed that education should be under the control of the state, free from special interest groups. Other than this, ‘Karl Marx, the father of the conflict theory, believed that education system perpetuates the existing class structure…to prepare children for their roles in the capitalist, technological society, controlled by the dominant groups in society’ (Ballantine, J., 2001, p.69). In addition to this, Bowles and Gintis (1976) argued that education serves to reproduce the existing social structure. In order to run the educational system properly, teaching and learning plays a vital role. Learning is the cognitive process of acquiring skill or knowledge (defined in dictionaries). Learning occurs as a result of teaching and instructions given to the learners. ‘Learning is an ongoing process in which students actively receive, interpret, and relate information to what they already know, understand and have experienced. Effective assessments in turn, promote this process (Phye, 1979)’ (cited in McMillan, J., 2007, p.12). Therefore, it is important to know how much the learners have achieved through assessments. For this reason, assessment is one of the most important tools in the learning process. The quality of the assessment in the educational process has a profound and well established link to students’ performance. Research consistently shows that regular monitoring and feedback are essential to improving students’ learning (McMillan, 2007). ‘...one finding is that good teachers continually assess their students relative to learning goals and adjust their instructions on the basis of this

References: * Ballantine, J., (2001). The sociology of Education: A systematic analysis. 5th ed. USA: Prentice.Hall Inc. * Mckenzie, J., (2001). Changing Education: A sociology of education since 1944. 1st ed. Malaysia: Pearson Education Limited.